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Feb 2012
12:28pm, 10 Feb 2012
1,365 posts
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SusiesueH
making the places available in 4x500 chunks just turned it into a panic. Yes the places filled up quickly in the past, but that's because (as Flip says) more people want to run it than there are places available. The online allocation must have been snapped up in the equivalent of 20 minutes this year. If the reason for the change was genuinely that they didn't want people getting up early to enter, then make all the online applications available at 8am (or whatever time is considered reasonable). I'm also amazed that 50% of places are allocated to postal entries. Surely this takes a considerable amount of time to process? My assumption was that these places were for people who couldn't get in quick enough to get a place online but after reading some of the posts above, it sounds like it's so that club runners can apply in bulk.
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Feb 2012
12:28pm, 10 Feb 2012
4,699 posts
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flip
It always goes to a nat west security thing that asks for the x, x and xth charactor of your pass word and by the time you get the 3rd one done it times you out.
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Feb 2012
12:40pm, 10 Feb 2012
4,700 posts
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flip
Didn't everyone complain about it crashing and being slow in previous years tho?. I still think i prefer ths way (maybe change the times a bit 5am , and 10 pm with a couple inbetween ) but it's not perfect and you just havce to accept sometimes you will miss out.
Mind ,
I'm not in favour of the bulk for local clubs more or less giving them a guranteed entry (by their postal entries going in early),even tho my club benefited this year (i did it online ). Well i might be persuaded if it was ALL the local clubs.
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Feb 2012
12:42pm, 10 Feb 2012
1,110 posts
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Jovi Runner
Interestingly I got some Blaydon postal entry forms a couple of days prior to the postal entry and I'm secretary of a club in Yorkshire
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Feb 2012
12:43pm, 10 Feb 2012
895 posts
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Mr_SJ
flip - mine never times out on that bit flip, only issue i sometimes have is with paypal and it just wont go through after entering password and asks me to use a pc to process payment, no idea why but also does it on the ipad now and again.
susie - yeah i agree, just was a mass panic of people, last year 2000 online places went in just under 4 hours, this year 2000 places went in less than 10 minutes, doesnt take a genius to spot which way seems fairer ! in the past they've gone online and nobody really knows what time, always turns out to be early hours of the morning and when i get on the computer around 7-8 am i have never had a problem getting straight in. real real shame if it goes to a ballot but if it does i'll ask the club if they can get block places like most others seems to do, but to me again that just seems wrong.
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Feb 2012
12:46pm, 10 Feb 2012
896 posts
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Mr_SJ
ive never had a problem with it crashing in previous years but i am always on early to get my palce so i can imagine later in the morning it goes into meltdown. does anyone know what the deal is with clubs then ? my club doesnt get places but i know our local neighbour does and so do various others around us, do the clubs have to request places ? if it is all local clubs or even as far down as yorkshire then the 2000 postal entries will be pretty much gone before the form is realeased in teh journal !
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Feb 2012
12:59pm, 10 Feb 2012
1,112 posts
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Jovi Runner
I've not had forms in previous years - this was the first year although by the time we could get them out to people it probably wouldn't have been earlier than the general postal system. We dont get offered places or a block of places - only got the form a day or two early so I guess if we had sent entries off we would have got the entries in first but it would still have been first come first served. Do the block entries thing include a guaranteed number of places for certain clubs? I can see the plus side of that in that it means locals can always get in but on the other hand, us ex pat Geordies wouldnt get the same access if it did just got to block places for locals.
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Feb 2012
2:26pm, 10 Feb 2012
1,366 posts
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SusiesueH
flip - I'm not complaining because I've missed out (because I haven't). I'd hate you to think this was sour grapes :O I'm just saying that I can't understand why the excuse given to change the entry was about people having to get up early when clearly, so many people were willing to get up early.
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Feb 2012
2:42pm, 10 Feb 2012
4,701 posts
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flip
Never entered my mind you were sue , just giving you point of view as we all do  was the reason given that people had to stay up /get up early or have they changed it to give those folk like I mentioned who might work shifts a fair crack of the whip? I dont really know . as I said I just think its a better system for some of my friends as working nightshift in a hospital they have no chance . . sj , it wont have paypal at all either and its just the natwest security that stops it happening . are you with natwest ? the block booking I only heard of a few weeks ago when our club was offered it . they say its not guaranteed but I cant see it wouldnt be . apparenty its been going on years. as I said I dont like it but might be persuaded if ALL the local clubs got a chance . Mind where you draw the line a nightmare all of its own . . All the harriers league clubs ? Like I said earlier they just arent going to please everyone on this because there just arent enough places . :-S
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Feb 2012
2:45pm, 10 Feb 2012
1,470 posts
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The Scribbler
I think Blaydon suffers from its own success. It's a popular North East race with a great atmosphere that's hard to get into (sound familiar?). I don't know what the answer is, other than you'll never please everyone all the time.
It was put to me that one of the 'advantages' of joining a local club was the guaranteed entry places for this race. And while I like the fact that local clubs are involved and are, in part, probably responsible for keeping it going, I personally think it would be a shame if it was overly 'clubby'.
I like the fact that there's an element of athletic history alongside the social history of the race. And the fact I'm just as likely to be running behind a girl wearing pyjamas as I am someone in a club vest.
Should be a fine Fetchie turn out again
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